Low LET passers? Many drawn to profession not ‘best and brightest’

MANILA,  Philippines — One reason why the passing rate in the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) is going down could be because those “attracted” to the teaching profession are “not the best and the brightest.”

Runvi Manguerra, executive director of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Teacher Education Council, offered this explanation during Thursday’s hearing of the Senate committee on education.

It was Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the committee, who asked why the LET passing rate is going down over the years.

Gatchalian repeatedly reminded Manguerra that the council has the mandate to formulate policies and standards to improve the quality of teacher education.

Manguerra first cited the “very low” percentage of centers of excellence and centers of development in the country, which he said was only about 5 percent.

Then he cited next “the kind of students that we have in the college of education.”

“We keep on saying that we have to recruit the best and the brightest among our senior high school students but record shows that those who are attracted to the Teacher Education Institutions are not the best and the brightest,” Manguerra said, but added there are “few good students.”

To address this  problem, Manguerra said the council is proposing an organization that will develop teaching profession as early as senior high school.

He said joining this organization would improve students’ inclination for teacher education.

When Gatchalian asked if this would serve as a “separate qualifier” for education students, Manguerra answered in the affirmative.

Manguerra reiterated though that this is just a proposal as they have yet to discuss this with the Commission on Higher Education.

He also underscored the need to improve or add more centers of excellence and development across the region.

JPV